The Tale of Lea
by Gemmas-Tales
Summary: The Tale of a woman who's destiny has taken its own time coming


_Some stories begin and end, others end with a beginning, and yet others begin with an ending. Some stories are tales to teach and guide us, while others are simply a moment of a life that needs be shared. It is up to the Bards, Chroniclers, and Historians to choose and tell the stories. I am neither Bard, Chronicler, nor Historian yet I feel I have a store that needs be told. So I take quill to ink and ink to paper..._

_And so it begins..._

**Chapter 1**

The place, it was a warehouse really, reeked of old smoke, booze and filth. No one would ever convince her that this place had once been clean. The loud racket of the crowd around her proved just how dilapidated the warehouse was because every time the patrons started yelling the glass and the very walls themselves would shake. Wind from outside always seemed to be able to find the smallest of cracks in the walls and ceiling causing the torches to flare and gutter. Only the protective glass around the lanterns kept them from going out with each gust of wind. Behind her the whimpers and curses of the others could barely be heard even though only a curtain separated her from those that had been her companion's mere moments before.

Lea looked around through eyes made red and watery from the smoke, and if she were honest with herself from the tears she had believed long sense dried up. No one noticed her as she stood still, barely able to breathe, so intent were they on the girl up on the tiny platform placed before the patrons there. There was no escape for the one up on the platform as the patrons blocked the front exit and the guards and pens blocked the back exit. The girl up there was as trapped into her fat as Lea was. Only the girl up there had not gotten to make the choice to come here as Lea had chosen. With a roar that threatened to make the roof collapse with it's volume the girl was sold. A nasty looking little man darted forward to his property with a sneer and smirk on his twisted face. The girl looked at him in horror as he paid the little Accountant man sitting at a table next to where the Auctioneer stood. The nasty little man grabbed the girls lead from the hand of the guard and jerked her forward. She nearly fell from the stage and was only saved from falling on her face because the nasty little man grabbed her.

Lea bit her lower lip as she watched the fate that the girl would surely be subject too unfold before her. The nasty man ripped the dress, no more then rotten cloth, from the girl and fondled her. The crowd roared with pleasure even as the girl screamed in terror. The nasty man pulled hard on her lead dragging her through the crowd towards the exit. He did not even pause as the men closes to himself and the girl pinched and pawed at the helpless girl.

Then it was her turn, the Auctioneer motioning forward the guard that held Lea's own lead that was attached to a metal collar about her neck. Lea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, filling her lungs so that the stretched and expanded, before slowly releasing that breath and taking a step forward. She moved towards the Auctioneer, his cruel face frozen in a sneer of a smile as he motioned her forward. Lea stepped up onto the little platform and turned to face the crowd in front of her. Her gray eyes traveled franticly over the crowd searching for something, anything to focus on so she wouldn't have to see the people below her. Even as she stared at the back wall she couldn't help but note the expressions on the faces of the buyers. Many, o so many, where cold and calculating. They measured her, judged her, weighed her, and priced her. A very few actually had compassion and warmth in their eyes as they stared up at her on that little platform, but even they tried to decide her worth.

'_I chose this'_, she reminded herself, _'or was it that I had no choice but this??_'

The Auctioneer started his litany, telling of her worth, asking for bids. He jerked her around by the lead attached to the collar about her neck. He grabbed the back of her dress pulling it tight against her chest. Lea closed her eyes and blushed over his words describing her figure and boasting what a good piece of flesh she was. At the ripe old age of 30 Lea was no maiden to be fearful and ashamed of her body or what men might do to it. But even she felt like the most innocent of virgins when seeing the hungry leers of the men around her. Lea had been blessed with a healthy, yet voluptuous body and had used it to her advantage as a young woman. Her curly mass of red hair and stunning gray eyes had also worked to her advantage many, many times. Now those same advantages had turned into the worse of curses.

Suddenly a commotion in the back of the smoke filled room brought Lea out of her self and made her actually pay attention to something besides her depression. Figures in white were streaming in through the doors and windows. The Auctioneer cursed and shoved her off the platform in his haste to escape. Lea stumbled and fell, landing in a heap at the back of the platform. She lay stunned; the wind was knocked out of her.

_'What? No, why are the Heralds here?! They will ruin everything!! '_

Lea whimpered and scurried under the platform hoping to hide from the onslaught of fighting and cursing that was rapidly turning into chaos around her. She watched as the Heralds overwhelmed the scum and bound their arms before jerking them out of the room. She could hear the cries and screams from behind the door that lead do the pens where the other slaves and prizes to be sold were kept.

_'No no no no, this cannot be happening! This was my last chance to fix things! I can't hold them off anymore! Now I will have to become what I dreaded most. At least if I had been sold there would be a chance of surviving what would be done to me, maybe of even becoming a paid servant once my price had been worked off. Now I will get to end my days walking the streets and working on my back, waiting for the day when some disease or mad man takes my life.'_

Tears slide down Lea's cheeks unchecked as the last patron of the Auction was lead away and the whimpers of the girls for sale faded. Lea hung her head, her red hair falling forward over her shoulders. Her body shook with her sobs as the last threads of hope unraveled like threads from a torn sweater. Lea wrapped her arms around her stomach and bit her lower lip hard to keep from making a sound that might attract the attention of a guard or, worse yet, a Herald. She rocked gently back and forth, ignoring the pain of the wood shavings on the floor digging into her knees.

Suddenly the platform was lifted and Lea found herself exposed. She looked up at the four Heralds standing around her with wide owlish eyes. They looked down at her with pity and concern. The oldest of the group reached out a hand towards Lea.

"Come now madam, it is over now and we will see you returned to your family or some place safe"

Suddenly Lea's sadness and misery was replaced with anger. How dare they! How dare they in all their glory and righteousness. The twice cursed bloody spoiled pets of the Queen. They never had to worry about saving their families, never had to be the one responsible for the lives and health of littles, not these great defenders of Valdamer. They got fed, they got clothes, and they got great horses of white to parade around on. While those like her lost their dignity and pride, gave up hope and freedom just to protect their families. Lea sneered; her gray eyes flashed with hate as she warped her anger around herself like a cloak. The Heralds stepped back as Lea rose to her feet, hissing like a wild thing, some demented changechild. Lea jumped at the Herald that had offered to help her stand and knocked him to the floor. She screamed and pummeled the Herald with her fists. The other Heralds jumped forward and pulled her off the now injured and bleeding Herald.

"I hate you, I hate you all!! Why did you stop this?! How can I save my family now? You've ruined everything.. Damn you, everything!!"

The Heralds looked stunned, first at Lea, then at each other trying to figure out what someone would be angry for being saved from becoming some lechers play toy and slave. They held tighter to the mad woman as they dragged her from the warehouse. Some of the Guard stepped forward and took the now sobbing Lea from the confused Heralds and lead her towards a wagon full of other women saved from being auctioned that night. The four Heralds continued to look confused as their Companions came up beside them.

A Healer darted forward to clean the wounds of the oldest Herald and noted the expressions of the others.

"Is there a problem?", Jaktor the Senior Healer asked of the four.

The youngest Herald, Gerald, spoke up first "That woman we just brought out, she screamed at us. She said we had ruined everything and now she wouldn't be able to save her family. I don't understand, why would she want to be sold into slavery like that?"

Jaktor finished cleaning the last of Stvens wounds and sighed softly. "I have seen this many times unfortunately. Often when a woman has no other way to bring money into her house, and does not want to be a whore, who only gets a tenth of what they bring in, she will sell herself at one of these horrid Auctions. The money will go to her family or to the family's debtors. They feel it is the only way to save their family, and never once think to go to the Magistrates for protection and help."

Gerald looked stunned even as Stevn nodded in agreement with Jaktor. "The Crown has tried for years to stop this Gerald, but all we can do it end the Auctions when we find them like we did tonight. She will either sale herself at the next Auction or become a whore." Stven sighed softly and mounted his Companion. "It happens for too often, though less now that the war with Karse has ended and the Storms have come to a halt".

Gerald watched as Stven, and his Companion Rebkha, moved off toward the Palace, following behind the wagon carrying the women, and some men.

"It's not right Stefs, no one should go through that." Gerald leaned against his Companion Stef as the last of the Heralds and Guards left the dilapidated warehouse. "No one."

_Sunrise, two days later...._

Lea sat on the bench in the justice hall along with all the other girls that were to be sold two nights ago. Some where like her, angry that the Auction had been stopped, while others were relieved. Now they waited for the Judge and Heralds to decide what to do with them. Each woman was expected to tell her store and then ask if she could be returned to her family or for help starting a new life here in Haven.

Lea lowered her head so that her curtain of red hair could hide the fear and anger she still held onto like a lifeline. Word had already come to her that the Debtors had taken her home and everything inside. The littles had been herded to the orphanages that could take them and the adults had been sold as indentured servants. This information, passed to Lea by Marie, her one time maid, and now loyal friend, has only made her more depressed and angry. Marie had also told her that Lea's Uncle and Aunt had been livid that Lea had failed to do as she promised and brought them to this fate. A tear slipped from Lea's eyes and she bit her lower lip. A drop of blood seeped from a sore she had chewed there, dropping from her lip to land in her clasped hands. Lea didn't care anymore; she had stormed and raged long enough. She had not put her family in this situation. Her Uncle and Aunt had been the ones to squander her family's money when her Mother and Father had died. They had not cared that the youngest child, a mere 3 years old, would need clothes and food. All they cared about was using the money her Father had worked hard to earn, to establish themselves at Court. They had gone through everything, even the money that Lea brought in from her job as a shop girl.

_'To think once my Father would have presented me at the very Court that drove my brothers and sisters to the orphanage. I never want anything to do with those selfish bastards that rule this land and call it wonderful. They know nothing, only greed and selfishness'_

Lea started and looked up as her name was called. She quickly wiped her eyes and stepped forward, leaving behind the other women and girls that set on the marble bench against the side wall of the Justice Hall. Her feet did not make a sound as she walked across the cold marble floor towards the great wooden Seat of Justice. Lea pushed her hair back from her face impatiently as she came to a stop. She could hear, but choose to ignore, the whispers and comments made by the specters that had come to witness this finally humiliation of the girls who would have been auctioned off. The Judge banged his gavel against the dark wood desk that shown brightly with years of polish. Lea winced with each pound of the gavel; the sharp sound vibrating in her skull that already pounded with a headache.

"Silence" the Judges voice filled the marble Hall bringing the spectators to a stunned silence.

The Judges looked down at Lea, soft, warm blue eyes meeting hard, angry gray eyes. "Well child, who are you and why were you in the ware house on 3rd street two nights hence?"

Lea squared her shoulders and stood to her full height of 5'6", and lifted her stubborn chin. "My name is Eleasa Skyvon, Lea for short. I was there to be auctioned to the highest bidder. Something that would have happened if the Heralds had not meddled" Lea sneered, her anger coloring her voice and radiating from her being.

"Tell me why you were to be Auctioned off, were you there by your own free will or had you been captured or forced into being there", Judge asked, puzzlement in Lea's reaction obvious to all.

"I chose to be there, Sir. Unlike some of these others. I have a responsibility to protect my family and provide for them. Uncle these spoiled pets of the Crown." Lea waved towards Heralds that stood on the opposite wall of the former girls for Auction.

"Clearly child, you have a deep misunderstanding of Heralds and what they stand for. You also have little idea as to the backgrounds of these men and women who protect Valdamer from evil. Now young woman, tell me why exactly did you choose to be Auctioned off instead of going to your local Magistrate for help if your family is in need??" The Judges voice went from hard-edged to soft and grandfatherly as he spoke to Lea trying to figure exactly what was going with this misguided young woman.

"When my Stepfather died his brother and his brother's wife took custody of my brothers and sisters and myself, including the fortune that my Father and Stepfather amassed when they were alive. Within a few years they had emptied the band accounts and indebted the estates of my parents until there was nothing left. They told me the only way to save my brothers and my sisters was if I agreed to sell myself at Auction and name them as the sellers. They would receive enough money to provide the bride price for my younger sister. They had arranged a marriage with Earl Landcakister. In exchange for the Bride Price and my sisters hand the Earl agreed to raise the rest of my brothers and sisters and see that my Aunt and Uncle continued to enjoy the luxuries of the Queens Court. Lea sniffed, her hopelessness and depression breaking through her mask of anger. Her shoulders lost their regal bearing and slumped forward. Even the Judge could see the light of anger dim within Lea's gray eyes as they became dull and lifeless."

"Lying Whore", the entered Hall turned as a man dressed in shabby Court attired leapt to his feet, "we told her no such thing. The lair has always been a thorn in my family's side. She is the bastard of her mother's affair, not even recognized by her mother's family. Only my brother's selflessness provided her with food and clothes. She is even educated, the worthless slut." Lord Snypely stormed forward to the wood gate separating the spectators from the Judge and court. He shook his fist at Lea, his face red with anger.

Lea spun around and faced the Judge; her hands fisted at her side, chewing once again on her lower lip that began to bleed. She looked up at the Judge; her gray eyes swimming in unshed tears.

"Because of her all my brothers children are in orphanages, our belongs sold, our house gone, even now contracts are being drawn to indenture myself wife and myself as servants out-kingdom!' A vein pulsed in the forehead of Lord Snypley. His wife, Lady Snypley stepped up behind and tried to pull him away from the gate, whispering frantically to him.

Lea lowered her head and sobbed quietly, tears falling down her cheeks to drip on the cold marble. She closed her eyes and wished she could as easily drown at her Uncle's voice and the spectators scandalized whispers. A voice Lea had only heard two nights ago sounded out across the melee.

"Pardon me Judge, we would like to administer the truth spell on Lea and Lord Snypley." Lea turned her head to look at the Herald she had clawed two nights ago. Recognizing him more by the look in his eyes and the scratches on his face then any thing else. She looked passed him to see three other Heralds standing directly behind him, including one Herald that looked as angry as her Uncle.

The Judge nodded his head and then pounded his gavel for silence. "Agreed, the Truth spell shall be tested on both Lea Skyvon and Lord Snypley. Herald Stven please come forward, Lord Snypely if you would please approach the bench."

Herald Stven stepped forward quickly, placing himself between Lea and Lord Snypley, just in case either decided to do something towards the other. Lea looked up at Herald Stven and then quickly away, a blush of shame staining her cheeks. She had seen up close the damage she had done this man and was a shamed. Lea silently berated herself for attacking him and losing control of her temper the way she had, even if at the time she had felt justified.

Stven looked down at the young woman standing to his right, or at least at the top of her head. _::What do you think has been done to her that she would be so angry at Heralds, Rebkha::_

Rebkha sent a wave of love and support toward her friend of many years, _::it happens sometimes love, they fell betrayed by family and then by a system that is supposed to protect them. If she is the bastard child of two Nobles she may have been 'hidden' so as not to cause scandal. She's probably learned that to draw attention to herself means she will be punished and that she is worthless::_

Stven sighed at his Companions words knowing the truth when he heard it. He had seen it happen many many times in even the richest of families for that matter. But it never ceased to amaze him that it continued to happen time and again.

The Judge nodded to Herald Stven, then towards Lord Snypley. "If you would be so kind as to go first Lord Snypley".

Lord Snypley visibly puffed up with pride and contempt as Stven cast the Truth Spell about him. Lord Snypley could not see the blue glow that surrounded him but everyone else with the least bit of mind magic could.

The Judge spoke again telling Lord Snypley to again repeat his story and claims regarding one Eleasa Skyvon. Lord Snypley began his store, speaking rapidly, his eyes darting from the Judge to the Herald. Even Lea could see as the blue around Lord Snypley faded telling all that he was lying. A wrinkle formed on Lea's forehead as she frowned in puzzlement. What did this mean? Her Uncle had been lying to her or was he only telling half-truths to make the Judge think she had brought all this about. What was going on?? Lea's frown deepened as the Judge banged his gavel again.

"Lord Snypley, the Truth spell has shown that you are lying. Will you now tell the truth or shall I have Herald Stven cast the next level of the Truth spell and force the truth from you?"

Lord Snypley's face turned even redder, if that was possible, then before. He sputtered, spit flying from his lips and dripping on his chin. If it was possible he stood taller, this thin almost anorexic body stretching as if he willed himself to be taller then the Herald that stood beside him.

"I want another Herald, this one obviously cast the Truth Spell wrong. Obviously he wants the lying slut for himself and would do anything to make me seem the fool" Lord Snypley waved his hand disdainfully. Lea looked behind him, catching movement from the corner of her eye, and saw her Aunt go suddenly pale at her Uncle's words. Lea again began chewing on her lower lip in confusion. Stven nudged Lea slightly causing her to turn and look up at him. He smiled softly and handed her a handkerchief nodding wordlessly towards her lip. Only then did Lea realize that she had caused her lower lip to bleed again. Lea ducked her head and dabbed at her lower lip, trying to stop the blood.

"Very well, Lord Snypley, as inexcusable as your statement is I will allow another Herald to administer the next level of the Truth Spell. Herald Gerald please step forward."

The young Herald that looked so angry to Lea early stepped forward, standing on the other side of Lord Snypley, effectively blocking him in. Lea tilted her head trying to see this Herald Gerald whose name and title rhymed when Stven nudged her again. When Lea looked up at him he arched his eyebrow and nodded towards the Judge. Lea straightened her spin and looked directly at the Judge, knowing a silent command when she say it.

Lea did not see Herald Gerald cast the Truth Spell but she definitely heard the two different stories coming from her Uncles mouth. Above what her Uncle was actually saying, as if coming from the blue Truth Spell it's self, was another version of the his story. One that Lea has never before heard.

".... We convinced the chit that the family was broke and that the only way to save any of us was if she sold her self at the Auction. We really just wanted to get ride of the annoying bitch. Why my brother agreed to raise a bastard like her I'll never know. Whenever I asked he always said "How can I not love a child that is part of the woman I love?" Spineless bastard that he was, that bitch of a woman he married had him wrapped around her little finger. Convinced him that all their children should be educated and learn some kind of trade. He was family money, MY money, on that horde if worthless children of his. If the accident that killed him and his wife hadn't of happened then I would have done it myself, and good riddance! Once I got ride of the bastard Lea I could get rid of the children, ship'em all off to orphanages cause that's what they are after all. Then my wife and I could live on the rest of the family money as we deserved!"

Emotions shot through Lea like lightning striking a field of trees. One moment she wanted to rage and scream, the next kill her "Uncle", the next sob with the horror of his words. Since her parents death she had slaved at her Uncle's demands. Teaching the children during the day and then working in the flower shop at night. Always she blamed the Courts and Heralds for her blight because it was her Uncle that said the Heralds had "accidentally" killed her parents, it was the Court that demanded he and his wife always attend the parties and balls in rich attired. Anger and heartache circled around and around inside of Lea's head until it was filled with a kind of red-tinged light.

Lea looked at her Uncle and whispered softly, barely over that of a breath but Steven heard and reacted. He turned and grabbed Lea by her shoulders and shook her hard, throwing up a multi-layered shield around them both. Lea looked up at Stven, her gray eyes flashing like lightning dancing in storm clouds. Stven did not speak to her, knowing that words would not get past her anger, an anger that was burning away natural shields and exposing an explosive Gift. He simply reached out with his own Gift . Lea collapsed into a boneless heap in his arms, unconscious and breathing shallowly. Stven lifted Lea into his arms and turned, releasing the shield he had placed around the two.

The Judge was banging on his gavel trying to retain order of the Justice Hall. Lord Snypley was screaming in rage at the lying Heralds who had tricked him. Lady Snypley was laying on the marble floor in a dead faint. As for Herald Gerald, who was grinning the grin of the triumphant, he and his fellow Heralds had surrounded Lord Snypley and were leading him towards the a door that would ultimately contain Lord Snypley's new home, the Palace Jail.

Stven turned and existed the chaotic Justice Hall at a door behind the Judges bench and walked quickly down the Hall towards the Healers. Mentally he was already talking to Jaktor, telling him what had transpired and warning him that the room Lea would be placed in needed to be tightly shielded. No doubt, Stven told Jaktor, such a violent awaking of a latent Gift would cause severe damage and had probably burned the woman's channels wide open. Jaktor assured him that all would be ready and when it came time to awaken her again, mind healers would be there to help guide her every step of the way.

_**Companion's Field...**_

A gust of wind suddenly raced across the field, dancing in the grass and in the tree tops. Companions lifted their heads as the wind tossed and played in their manes and tails, curious at the meaning of the strange ill wind. In the very back reached of the Field one Companion stood alone, it's ears turned forward and it's whole being vibrating with yearning, longing, need, vibrating with life as a gea settled over it. At last it's Call had come.


End file.
